After 14 Years in Power, Bolivian President Evo Morales Steps Down

The resignation of a head of a state or country is a very historical event. In the history of global politics, only few have stepped down from their office due to issues relating to graft and corruption. However, just recently, the Bolivian president resigns in his office not because of his involvement in graft and corruption, but because of nationwide protests due to election irregularities.

Bolivian President Evo Morales announced on Sunday that he is resigning as the president of the state after the military had called him to step down. Adding to his growing concern, Morales' allies tumbled away after irregularities in the previous election that toiled the South American nation.

Morales is in power for 14 years in Bolivia and during his televised conference, he said that he is finally rendering his resignation to pacify the country and restore stability.

The head of Bolivia's armed forces General Williams Kaliman plays a main key role in Morales' resignation. Kaliman said that the military have asked Morales to step down after the nationwide protests due to election irregularities on Oct. 20. He added that he also asked the senate president to renounce the presidential mandate of Morales to restore peace and stability.

In a report from NBC News, Morales agreed to hold another election after the Organization of American States (OAS) revealed that there are irregularities in the October 20 elections. The OAS said that the election must be considered null and void because it showed clear manipulations leading Morales to win by just 10 points against his rival Carlos Mesa.

In a separate report from BBC News, the horrifying protests started a night after the election when the result gave Morales a 10 point win over Mesa. The protest led the death of 3 persons and surprisingly some policemen joined the protesters. What triggered the protesters is when the OAS said that it had found a solid evidence of wide-scale data manipulation and they will certify the said fraud.

Meanwhile, some of Morales' political allies have resigned already, citing that they have to assure the safety of their family amidst the outraging protest of the people. However, Kaliman assured the welfare of the Bolivians by conducting operations to neutralize any armed groups that will attack the protesters.

On the other hand, opposition leader Carlos Mesa thanked the protesters for the heroism of peaceful resistance. In one of his tweets he described the development as the end of the tyranny and a historical lesson saying "Long live Bolivia".

Despite the success of protest ousting the Bolivian president, Cuban and Venezuelan leaders condemned the events. Cuban President Miguel-Diaz Canel described the event as violent and cowardly, while Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro tweeted that they categorically condemned the coup which pressured their brother president. Meanwhile, Mexico said that is considering to grant an asylum to the former Bolivian president.

What do we really know about Evo Morales?

He served Bolivia for 14 years since 2006. He captured the pulse of the Bolivians during his era because he is the Bolivia's first indigenous leader who ran for the highest position and won. Morales decided to ran for an office for the fourth consecutive term amidst the controversy of the constitutional court to scrap the presidential term limits. It can be recalled that in a 2016 referendum, majority voted no to dropping the limit of term that Bolivians could serve.

Read more: Bolivian President Evo Morales resigns amid election protests and Bolivian president announces resignation amid accusations of election fraud